Got to spend 2.5 hours today in the air with Richard.  This makes a total of 6.6 hours so far on the Hobbs Meter.  If you ever rent an airplane, this little clock measures the amount of time the engine is running and that equals your rental time.  If you train out of a larger airport like Raleigh-Durham (RDU), you get to pay to wait in line to take-off behind Southwest and Delta.  Luckily, there is no waiting at Sanford Executive Jetport (KTTA).

During our flight, we worked on stalls, S-turns, all kinds of landings and take-offs (short-field, soft-field, engine-out, normal), and spiral descents to simulate engine-out landings.  The spiral descent was a new experience as we climbed to 3,000 feet, cut power and circled our “landing point” in a 45-55 degree bank (reach 60 degrees and you are required to wear a parachute) at 60 knots of airspeed.  You lose about 500 feet of altitude for every 360 degree circle around the point.  That is quite the elevator ride!

People are asking me what type of aircraft am I talking about in regards to mission aviation.  Here is a link to Zenith Aircraft and the Zenith CH750  (http://www.zenithair.com/stolch750/).  This is what I am talking about.  This airplane is able to carry two people and take-off and land in a football field!  Talk about opening up the ability for missionaries to reach remote locations!